The Coral Springs Chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild of America will present a free demonstration of needlework arts from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Room 154 on the first floor of the North Regional/Broward Community College Library, 1100 Coconut Creek Blvd. All are welcome. Call 954-201-2601. Coral Springs Democratic Club plans annual awards luncheon The Coral Springs-Parkland Democratic Club has planned its annual awards luncheon at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Colony West Golf Club, 6800 N. Pine Island Road, Tamarac.

BOYNTON BEACH The Recreation & Park Department offers a variety of art classes for adults at the Boynton Beach Art and Activity Center, 125 SE Second Ave. These classes begin this month: Landscapes and Flowers in Oil _ today; Draw Before You Paint _ today; Adventures in Watercolor _ Thursday; Betty's Acrylic Painting _ Thursday; Watercolor, beginning to advanced _ Friday; Live Figure Drawing in charcoal and paste _ Friday. For information, call 561-375-6235. DELRAY BEACH Japanese needlework artdisplayed at Morikami "The Four Seasons," an exhibit of the works of more than 50 contemporary Japanese needlework artists, has opened at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.

Haiti's unrest can be attributed to the poor economic conditions that prevail in that country. What is most puzzling to me is that 40 to 50 years ago, Haiti was noted for its excellence in lacy lingerie. Obviously the natives had talent with a needle. Today there is an enormous amount of merchandise imported from the Orient when factories could be established in Haiti to export inexpensive wearing apparel and improve their economics. Norman H. Raines Deerfield Beach

Needlework enthusiast Thelma Post said she thinks that her entire home is like Fibber McGee`s closet, that corner in the mythical home never big enough to hold its possessions. Framed works depicting dancers, birds and historical sites line the walls in her Huntington Lakes condominium west of Delray Beach and her closets are filled with knitted clothing. Post, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment, said she needs more space. "I`m a Q.I.T., a Queen in Training. This is inadequate," she joked.

Needlework enthusiast Thelma Post said she thinks that her entire home is like Fibber McGee`s closet, that corner in the mythical home never big enough to hold its possessions. Framed works depicting dancers, birds and historical sites line the walls in her Huntington Lakes condominium west of Delray Beach and her closets are filled with knitted clothing. Post, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment, said she needs more space. "I`m a Q.I.T., a Queen in Training. This is inadequate," she joked.

Bright orange goldfish and zebra-striped goldfish swim on one wall and a strutting rooster with coloful feathers stands on another. Frank Kitchen`s home is filled with vivid needlework samplers, pictures, pillows and even a fireplace screen. They are his own work. He has been doing needlework for 45 years. Kitchen learned his first stitches in the Army in 1942, when he was hospitalized with sunstroke. He said a Red Cross nurse asked him if he wanted to just lay there feeling sorry for himself, or do something useful.

After Gail Fascaldo learned cross-stitching, she found herself in a rut. "A lot of people are stuck doing one stitch," she says. "When they join this group they find out there are literally thousands more that they can learn. It's very exciting." The group she's talking about is the Embroiderers' Guild of America. Fascaldo, publicity chairwoman for the group, works as a surgery scheduler. "That's mainly why I embroider," she says. "It's a great tension breaker." Postal worker Michele Petyo, 35, adds: "I look forward to my Thursday night out. It's like my tranquilizer."

Soft-spoken, country girl Mary Kamiya said she was just doing what her grandmothers did. Sewing and weaving were a part of life. Needlework was something to keep the fingers busy. And so that is why it came as such "a shock" to the Delray Beach woman when she took first place in the needlework and textiles category of the Barrington Museum`s second annual Folk Art Competition. "I never won anything before," she said. "Needlework is just something I like to do. It`s something I`ve always done, I don`t know why."

Haiti's unrest can be attributed to the poor economic conditions that prevail in that country. What is most puzzling to me is that 40 to 50 years ago, Haiti was noted for its excellence in lacy lingerie. Obviously the natives had talent with a needle. Today there is an enormous amount of merchandise imported from the Orient when factories could be established in Haiti to export inexpensive wearing apparel and improve their economics. Norman H. Raines Deerfield Beach

Rosie Pasternack is never idle when she watches television: Yarn is always flying through her fingers. For the past three years, the 80-year-old retiree has made colorful lap warmers and shawls for shut-ins and residents of local nursing and retirement homes. But this year, Pasternack, a Margate resident, decided to concentrate on the younger generation. She crocheted 152 infant caps and donated them to Coral Springs Medical Center and Plantation General for distribution to babies born in their maternity wards.

It took kind hearts and crafty hands to make gifts for about 100 young patients at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood. Forty members of Kingspoint City of Hope in Tamarac dedicated time to crocheting blankets that served as offerings of both physical and emotional warmth. The group, founded 10 years ago, raises money for the City of Hope hospital in California. "The City of Hope is a research hospital that does studies in cancer, diabetes and neurological diseases," said Terry Cantor, the group's co-president.

In what can only be described as a bold voyage into civility, England's hardened prisoners -- drug dealers, sex criminals, murderers -- are biding their time with ... needlepoint. Quilts. Rugs. Cushions. A blanket of geometric shapes called "Child's Play," fit for a crib. Lovely, intricate stuff. The image seems downright bizarre: nearly 100 cons across the queen's dominion, hunched over piecework in their drafty cells. You'd think they'd try to keep this kind of thing quiet. Instead, 25 pillows embroidered by prison inmates are to be auctioned this fall at that bastion of posh respectability, Sotheby's.

Ten years ago, Karen Riska could have never imagined that she'd be in the market for a band saw and a belt sander. But that was before she took a serious interest in decorative painting. Each day, she commutes from Weston to her office in Miami where she is an administrator for Metropolitan Life. Many evenings, she picks up a paintbrush and applies color to candles or wooden Santas, jack o' lanterns and other holiday decorations. "Sometimes when I get home and it's been rough, you get a paintbrush in your hand and everything just goes away," says Riska, 50. Welcome to a new kind of crafter.

The work of more than 50 contemporary Japanese needlework artists, addressing the themes of ecology and nature, is on display at The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. The exhibit, "The Four Seasons," includes about 100 textile works of varying sizes, techniques and fabrics. All the works demonstrate the cross-cultural influences between the East and West, as well as environmental issues. In recent years, skilled Japanese needleworkers have turned to Western quilting techniques and designs for inspiration, just as Europeans and Americans have been inspired by the Japanese arts.

BOYNTON BEACH The Recreation & Park Department is offering a variety of art classes for adults at the Art and Activity Center, 125 SE Second Ave.. These classes begin this month: Landscapes and Flowers in Oil _ today; Draw Before You Paint _ today; Adventures in Watercolor _ Thursday; Betty's Acrylic Painting _ Thursday; Watercolor, beginning to advanced _ Friday; Live Figure Drawing in charcoal and paste _ Friday. For information, call 561-375-6235. DELRAY BEACH Japanese needlework show "The Four Seasons," an exhibit of the works of more than 50 contemporary Japanese needlework artists, has opened at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.